The Keyboard vs. The Pen

Here is my column for this week. Enjoy!

Note: The following article is property of Paul Wegerson (韦保罗）and the Zhongshan Ribao （中山日报.) It may not be re-printed without expressed written consent of either party.

April 15, 2005
Zhongshan Ribao English Edition

The pen is -and will always be- mightier than the sword. Yet in this age of technology, perhaps this common cliché could use an upgrade.

Modern students are writing with pinyin (拼音) based keyboards and mobile phones more often than with pens. Studies have shown that typing stimulates the memory far less than writing does. As a result some students are forgetting how to write certain Chinese words. This trend -‘computer dyslexia’- is creating new problems for students and for the Chinese language. Does this mean that the keyboard is mightier than the pen?

‘Computer dyslexia’ affects many of my college students when they must write an essay or take notes in class. They turn to their computers or mobiles when they can’t find the right word. Due to lack of practice, students even say that their handwriting is sloppy and ‘unreadable.’

A survey jointly conducted by the China Youth Daily and Sina.com showed that 67 percent of participants admit that they occasionally forget how to write Chinese characters.

Westerners who come to China bring with them a fascination and curiosity for the beautiful Chinese script. Each character reads like a pictogram of the time when the character was first written. Thousands of years of traditional culture were united to create each character in Chinese calligraphy. However, the computerized age of globalization appears to be erasing this tradition.

Many of my students are ambivalent to ‘computer dyslexia.’ They say that using technology to your advantage –using keyboards not pens- is important for today’s business world. This hurried, ‘just-in-time’ attitude is spilling over into daily life as well.

In 2004, 220 billion text messages were sent over mobile phones in China. This, coupled with the increase of instant messaging services like MSN, QQ and ICQ, means that more communication in China is through this pinyin based system or abbreviations.

Often, students will type ‘88’ (ba ba 八八) to say ‘bye-bye’ or type ‘3166’ (san yi liu liu 三一六六) to say ‘Sayonara,’ which is goodbye in Japanese. Lovers will type ‘520’ (wo er ling 五二另) to each other, which sounds like ‘Wo ai ni’ (我爱你) and means ‘I love you’ in Putonghua. Now, romance is just a short and encoded text message away. Chivalry is not dead after all. It just needed to re-charge.

Short cuts erode our attention to detail. I value my native tongue and try to place this respect for my language above convenience. Language reflects values. Those who study different languages have a broad worldview and a thirst for cultural insight. Increasingly, the diffusion of technological resources and the shrinking ‘scope’ of the world is challenging those values.

Today, the challenge facing China is to reward those who adapt without abandoning tradition. Pinyin is the Chinese phonetic alphabet, but to wholly rely on it dilutes the artistic heritage of the language. Calligraphy is an art form, typing is not. I believe the true test of a culture is how people assimilate with these changes.

Note: This article is property of Paul Wegerson (韦保罗）and the Zhongshan Ribao （中山日报.) It may not be re-printed without expressed written consent of either party.

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